Questions
by Bethie-from-africa
Summary: After returning to Hogwarts for his sixth year, Harry Potter is recieving defense lessons from Professor Dumbledore. One day, Harry has a question for him. One shot.


"Ah, Harry, come in. Please have a seat."

"Thank you, Professor." Harry walked towards Dumbledore's desk slowly as if in great pain. His hair looked unwashed and his tie was lopsided. There was a large stain on the left side of his robes which, to Dumbledore's trained eye, looked like a Veritaserum potion spill. He recalled Harry having received his O.W.L in potions and Severus Snape reluctantly accepting him in his class.

"Now, as I recall, yesterday we worked on a spell to place a shield around a building or a group of people, similar to the Fidelius Charm. We went out to Hagrid's cabin and practiced on it, and then requested several second year student's help. Do you want to practice that charm again today or would you like to start something new, perhaps a healing charm?" Dumbledore spoke softly as if his voice would shatter Harry like glass.

When Harry did not answer, he continued, "You do not need to practice that charm, for one of your age, you did it very well; it is most complex. Many adultwizards and witchesnever learn to do it," and waited for some response, even a glimmer of acknowledgement.

When Harry did speak, he spoke slowly as if choosing the right words out of many in his mind. "Professor, since last lesson, I've been thinking a lot. About the Prophecy. Right before school ended, you told me, 'Either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives'. From what I can understand, this means that I've got to kill Voldemort or let him kill me."

Harry's face was creased into a frown, and his eyes were dark. "Yes, Harry. This is what I have learned from the prophecy." Dumbledore acknowledged this with a slight nod of his head.

"Well, I know that I can't let the Dark Lord return to power; nobody wants that, right?" Dumbledore nodded encouragingly. "And besides, I'm not fond of letting him kill me either."

For the first time this year, Dumbledore could see the Harry of last year trying to escape.

"But, last year, in the Department of Mysteries, I got angry at Belatrix Lestrange, for what she did to Sirius, and I tried to perform the Crutacius Curse on her. It worked for a while, but then she told me that all I had was righteous indignation and that I could never hurt someone on just that. And in fourth year, Professor Moody, I mean Mr. Crouch, when he showed us the unforgivable curses, told us that we could all point our wands at him and try Avada Kedavra, and he wouldn't even get a nose bleed."

"And you want to know how I expect for you to kill Voldemort, when you couldn't even hurt Bellatrix? I wondered when this might come up. To tell the truth, I do not believe you will be able to duel with Voldemort. For one thing, your twin wands will not allow you to. We could get you another wand, but it would not perform as well for you. Also, you are quite right. It takes hatred, far beyond anything you have felt before, for a person to perform an Unforgivable Curse. I would be rather disappointed in you if you were able to. But one thing I do know is that you are a strong young man. I have watched you grow up and become more like your mother and father every day. When you face Voldemort, I am quite sure you will know what you must do. I have faith in you, Harry, and I would not say this if it were not true. Now, it is very late and you look tired. I want you to take a bath and go to sleep. Tomorrow we will start working on medical spells."

"Thank you Professor. I'll try. G'night." Harry got up and left the room. He walked slowly back to Griffindor Tower where he gave the password to the Fat Lady and climbed through the portrait hole. The fire in the common room was nearly out. It was deserted except for two students curled up in arm chairs near the hearth. As he entered the room, they both jumped up to greet him.

"Hey, Harry," Ron said, sleepily. "Did you have a good lesson tonight?"

Harry smiled. "Yeah, I did."


End file.
